Follow & Subscribe

Retro TV W/C 23rd November 2007

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don’t have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 23rd November to Thursday 29th November.Highlight of the week

BBC4 launches it’s Brazil, Brazil season on Friday 23rd November with the start of a three part series which explores the evolution of Brazilian music. The series starts in the days of slavery, when an estimated 4 million Africans were forcibly moved to Brazil, and traces the development of samba from the poor black areas of Salvador and Rio, where it was initially banned, to its fusion with European styles and its move to the mainstream.

The first programme, titled Samba to Bossa, follows the career of samba’s most successful and glamorous international star, Carmen Miranda, and the growth of the samba schools that dominate the Rio carnival. It traces the fight-back by musicians from the poor Northeast, who used a rival style, forro, to sing about the harsh realities of their lives, and shows how politics helped the development of a sophisticated new samba-jazz fusion, bossanova, from the Fifties, that was to bring international success to Joao Gilberto and Tom Jobim. The programme ends with the military coup that ended the optimistic, easy-going bossa era.

Brazil, Brazil (1/3) – BBC 4. 9.00pm – 10.00pmA review of Brazilian music and history from the days of slavery and the birth of samba to the contemporary hip-hop and baile funk scenes. (See Highlight).Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe – BBC 4. 11.00pm – 11.35pmA tongue-in-cheek take on the TV industry, including reviews of that week’s viewing highlights.Batman – BBC 4. 11.35pm – 12.25amDouble bill of the Dynamic duo. The caped crusader is lured into Catwoman’s lair.Film: Blow Out (1981) – Film4. 11.35pm – 1.40amMurky thriller starring John Travolta. Movie sound man Jack Terry records a car accident while working on a horror film. When his recording reveals the unmistakable sound of a gunshot, Jack begins to suspect that the crash was no accident.

Tales of the Unexpected – ITV 4. 11.50pm – 12.55amDouble bill of the classic series. In the first, a man has an unexpected shock when he learns his recently-deceased father owed a large amount of money. In the second, a near-bankrupt hotel owner goes to great lengths to get her hands on an inheritance from a rich aunt.

Flight of the Conchords (9/12) – BBC 4. 12.25am – 12.50amMurray organises for the band to go on tour.

The Sweeney – ITV 4. 9.15pm – 10.15pmRegan goes undercover as a lorry driver to catch a gang of hijackers.The Company (1/3) – BBC 2. 9.40pm – 11.15pmPowerful Cold War thriller based on Robert Littell’s best-selling novel charting CIA activity. West Berlin 1954: operative Harvey Torriti and his assistant Jack McAuiliffe offer to help a man and his family defect from East Germany in return for the name of a KGB mole in MI6.Brazil, Brazil (1/3) – BBC 4. 10.00pm – 11.00pmA review of Brazilian music and history from the days of slavery and the birth of samba to the contemporary hip-hop and baile funk scenes. (See Highlight).Frost and Pegg’s Perfect Night In – Channel 4. 10.55pm – 1.00amComedians Nick Frost and Simon Pegg select the movie and TV moments that would make an ideal night’s viewing for them, including clips from The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Who, Monkey and Blake’s 7.

Radio

Sounds of the 60s – BBC Radio 2. 8.00am – 10.00amBrian Matthew spins two hours of hits, B -sides and album tracks.The Nun Who Nurtured Reggae – BBC Radio 4. 10.30am – 11.00amReggae music might never have flourished without the influence of a Catholic nun in Jamaica. BBC correspondent and reggae fanatic Jonathan Charles tells the story of Sister Mary Ignatius Davies, who ran the music programme at the Alpha cottage School for wayward boys in Kingston, Jamaica. The Funk and Soul Show – BBC Radio 6. 6.00pm – 9.00pm3 hours of funk, soul and blues.

Days in the Life: Pink Floyd at 40 (2/2) – BBC Radio 2. 8.00pm – 9.00pmThis second part of Radio 2’s celebration of 40 years of Pink Floyd looks at the band’s inventive studio and stage work and its various conflicts.Sunday 25th November

TV

TOTP2 – Dave. (Freeview Ch. 19). 8.00am – 11.00amMore classic performances from the archives.The Unforgettable Frankie Howerd – ITV 1. 6.00pm – 6.25pmTittersome titbits and tragic tales from the life of the much-loved comedian.Film: Help! (1965) – BBC 4. 7.00pm – 8.30pmMusical comedy starring the Beatles. The Fab Four are pursued by a high priest who is determined to get hold of a ring that is stuck on Ringo’s finger.

Film: A Night at the Opera (1935) – 12.00am – 1.50amClassic comedy with the Marx Brothers. Otis B Driftwood must get multimillionaire Mrs Claypool to invest her cash in an opera, so she can break into high society. Stowaways on a liner, false beards and hotel bed-switching lead to an opening night to beat all others.Monday 26th November

TV

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) – ITV 4. 6.00pm – 7.00pmMarty becomes suspicious after detecting a smile underneath a funeral mourner’s veil.Minder – ITV 4. 9.00pm – 10.00pmTerry encounters the seedier side of the entertainment industry during a night’s work in a disco.Film: The Long Good Friday (1979) – Film4. 11.10pm – 1.20amMenacing crime drama starring Bob Hoskins. East End gangster Harold Shand is setting up a massive property deal. When his plans are knocked off course by the violent intervention of an unknown rival, Harold seeks revenge.Radio

Pop Goes the 60s – BBC 4. 7.30pm – 7.35pmA mindbendingly colourful nugget of pop mined from the archive. Featuring the Who.Batman – BBC4. 7.35pm – 8.00pmThe Penguin goes straight.Flight of the Conchords (10/12) – BBC 4. 9.30pm – 10.00pmA gig at a club means the band’s fanbase triples overnight, but Mel becomes jealous of the other two members.Film: The Kid Stays in the Picture (2001) – More4. 10.10pm – 12MidnightProducer Robert Evans narrates this fascinating documentary chronicling the ups and downs of his extraordinary life, during which he orchestrated the making of some of Hollywood’s greatest films.Film: Play Misty for Me (1971) – ITV 4. 11.05pm – 1.05pmChilling thriller starring Clint Eastwood. A DJ gains a persistent fan who repeatedly calls him up to play the song Misty. After they spend the night together, she begins to behave more and more strangely.

Peepshow (2/6) – E4. 11.25pm – 12MidnightSeries four. Mark is offered a promotion on condition that he delivers a presentation to the board.

Batman – BBC 4. 7.35pm – 8.00pmThe Penguin pulls off his most ambitious robbery yet – stealing the Batmobile. Burgess Meredith guests.The Professionals – ITV 4. 9.00pm – 10.00pmBodie and Doyle are assigned to frame an Arab cultural attache, who also works as an assassin, in order to force him out of the country.

Mind Changers: The Stanford Prison Experiment (1/3) – BBC Radio 4. 11.00pm – 11.30pmClaudia Hammond looks at three psychological experiments that changed understandings of the human mind. She begins with Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971, in which he set up a mock cell, with his students assuming the roles of prisoners and guards. The resulting behaviour was so extreme that the experiment had to be called off. Because of the experience he was able to testify in defence of one of the US soldiers accused of abuse at Abu Ghraib.6 Music Plays It Again: Punky Reggae Party (3/3) – BBC 6 Music. 9.30pm – 10.00pmTom Robinson explores the links between punk and reggae.Hep to the Jive – the Cab Calloway Story (3/4) – BBC Radio 2. 11.00pm – 11.30pmA chance to hear the 2006 series in which Clarke Peters pays tribute to charismatic showman, jazz band leader, singer and stage star Cab Calloway, who would have been 100 on Christmas Day. This edition recalls the tremendous popularity of the Cab Calloway Orchestra, whose starry line-up included Dizzy Gillespie and Ben Webster.

Thursday 29th November

TV

The Champions – ITV 4. 6.00pm – 7.00pmNemesis agents are programmed to kill their colleagues, and two of the champions come to blows.

The Mighty Boosh (3/6) – BBC 3. 10.30pm – 11.00pmSeries three. Vince and Howard are outraged to learn rival group the Flighty Zeus have stolen their ideas.Sex in the 70s: the King of Soho – More4. 11.05pm – 12.10amHow Paul Raymond greased the wheels of the sexual revolution to become the king of the flesh trade, not just in London but right across Britain.The Cult of… Adam Adamant Lives! – BBC 2. 12.05am – 12.35amThe history of the 1960s drama following the escapades of an adventurer who was frozen by his archenemy in 1902, only to be discovered preserved in 1966.